Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2002-359944 discloses a rotary electric machine, which comprises a stator core, windings of one or more phases wound on the stator core, a slot insulator made of an insulating resin and mounted on the stator core, and a lead wire holding structure for holding two or more lead wires for external connections to which two or more lead-out wires of the windings are respectively connected. In this rotary electric machine, the lead wire holding structure includes a lead wire holder made of a synthetic resin for holding the lead wires with end portions of the lead wires being arranged at a predetermined interval, and a holder mounting portion integrally formed with the slot insulator, to which the lead wire holder is attached. The holder mounting portion is formed to protrude from the stator core in a direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the shaft, and a recess is formed inside the holder mounting portion, into which the lead wire holder is fitted.
In the conventional rotary electric machine, the lead wire holder and the holder mounting portion are constructed to protrude from the stator core. Therefore, a volume occupied by the rotary electric machine is increased, and accordingly, a space in electric apparatus equipped with the rotary electric machine cannot be utilized effectively. Two or more lead-out wires of the windings may be connected directly to two or more lead wires for external connections, respectively. However, when such arrangement is adopted, means for insulating the respective connections is needed.